How early should I arrive?

Visitors with reserved-seat tickets must arrive at least 10 minutes prior to show time to claim their seats. At this time unclaimed seats will be released to walk-in guests. We recommend walk-in guests arrive 20-30 minutes prior to show time to get a seat. The show begins promptly at the scheduled start time and the doors close five to ten minutes later.

Can I bring young children?

We have had very young children enjoy the show before, but keep in mind that the subject matter in Friday night shows is at the college level. We do not have any firm guidelines on children. If a child can remain reasonably quiet for the 75 minute show time, then it is fine for that child to attend our general audience shows.

If your child has more difficulty sitting quietly for 75-90 minutes, or may have less familiarity with astronomy, feel free to bring them to one of our Saturday morning family shows. These shows are a bit shorter and the content is geared towards our younger visitors. During this show we might show you full dome images of planets in our solar system, explain what a constellation is and tell you the mythology behind one or two constellations currently visible, teach you about the different phases of the moon, or introduce you to the night sky. This is fun for the whole family! The film portion of this show is a fun adventure into space with a Polar Bear and a Penguin, which is enjoyable for everyone.

Why can't I ever get tickets?

With only 40 seats available to reserve at each show, these seats get claimed quickly. 10 families of four could fill up the whole offering of reserved seats in a matter of seconds. We recognize the frustration this causes, and we always have at least 20 seats available for walk-in visitors. If you are a Wayne State student or live in the area, we strongly encourage you to come as a walk-in guest! We at the WSU planetarium are committed to making astronomy available to our whole community, which is why we never charge a fee for our public shows.

We have been overwhelmed with the positive response to our public shows, so much so that we added our 8:30 pm Friday night show and our monthly Young Astronomers show in 2017. Our primary mission as a planetarium is to educate our Wayne State Physics & Astronomy students, and we do not have the staffing or funding to increase our public showings more than we already have at this time.